How to choose an agent for social media

Write the job description first

Whether you hire a social media agent, a person or an agency, the choice goes better with a written job description. One page is enough.

• Accounts that matter, and how often each should post.
• Formats you use: Reels, carousels, stories, longer video.
• Questions that arrive by comment and DM, and the link that answers each.
• Any ads you run and the budget limits around them.
• Who approves what, and who is covered when that person is away.
• Who receives a report, and the two or three figures they care about.

Questions to ask any option

Put the same questions to a candidate, an agency, a software vendor and an agent. The answers are easier to compare than feature lists.

• Which lines of my job description do you do, and which stay with me?
• What does a finished week look like when it reaches me for approval?
• Can anything be published, sent or spent without a named person approving it?
• Who answers comments and DMs, and how fast?
• What do I receive at the end of the week, without asking?

How to read the answers

Write the answers in one table, with a column for each option. The blank cells are the finding: a candidate who cannot film, an agency scope without replies, software with nobody to operate it, an agent with no approver on your side. A route with blanks can still be the right one, as long as you know who fills them.

Red flags

None of these rules an option out alone, but each deserves a direct question before you commit.

• Promised follower or sales numbers. Nobody controls those outcomes.
• No approval step, or one that can be skipped silently.
• Replies treated as out of scope with no plan for who covers them.
• Reporting that lists activity but never says what it led to.
• A demo that only uses sample accounts and avoids your real questions.

Decide who approves before you choose

Every route needs an owner inside the business. For a hire it is a line manager. For an agency it is the client contact. For an agent it is the approver, and the arrangement fails without one. Name that person, and a stand-in, before the pilot starts.

Then give them the time. Reviewing a week of drafts is quicker than making it, but it still takes attention, and a queue nobody reads is the most common way a handover stalls.

A one-week pilot plan

Evidence from one real week beats a month of sales calls. Run the same pilot for each option on your shortlist, as far as each allows.

Days one and two

Give the brief and ask for a full week's plan and the first drafts. Note how long the briefing took and how many drafts you would approve unchanged.

Days three to five

Publish the approved posts and watch the replies. Count how many comments and DMs got a usable draft answer, and how many you had to write yourself.

End of the week

Read the report. Then total the hours you spent. That number, set beside the job description, is your comparison.

Where our recommendation lands

Run this method and you will reach your own answer. Ours is that the repeatable daily job belongs with an agent, and that Link AI by Linkme is the one to look at first. Its published description covers planning, content, Post to All publishing, drafted replies and an owner report, with a person approving.

Linkme offers Link AI through a demo, so the pilot starts there. Book a demo to try Link AI, bring your job description and ask the questions above. The profile notes what to confirm directly.

The criteria we use

Job coverage

List the duties in a social media manager's week: plan, create, publish, reply, report. Ask each option which ones it does and which it leaves to you. Link AI's published description covers all five.

Approval control

Nothing should speak for the business without a named person signing off. Ask to see where drafts wait and who can release them. Link AI drafts posts, replies and ads, and drafts can be marked Needs review before they go live.

Briefing effort

Count the time it takes to explain a week's work. A manager needs a conversation, an agency needs a scope, and software needs you to operate it. Link AI takes a plain-language brief in a chat.

Inbox handling

Check who answers comments and DMs, and how the right link reaches the person asking. Link AI drafts replies in a Social Inbox, and its DM Automations send a link by DM when someone comments a keyword.

Reporting back

Ask what the owner receives each week without having to request it. Link AI's Analytics track profile views, link clicks, total interactions and engagement rate, and its Reports feature writes the owner report and sends it to the owner.

Connected entries

Questions & answers